


The Sins of the Fathers

by Wilusa



Category: One Life to Live
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-27
Updated: 2011-12-27
Packaged: 2017-10-28 06:30:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/304764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wilusa/pseuds/Wilusa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another AU, for kicks and nostalgia: A short speculative fic I wrote in 2009, when we'd been led to believe Roxy was Rex's mother, and his father was a mystery man in a coma...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sins of the Fathers

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: One Life to Live is the property of ABC; no copyright infringement is intended.

"Mrs. Balsom?" The voice on the phone was shaky. "This is Anne Kendall - one of your husband's doctors. I have wonderful news for you! Incredible news!"

Roxy sat down, hard.

 _The only "wonderful" news I could hear about that bastard would be that he's finally kicked the buckle. And I don't think the doc would consider that wonderful._

"Mrs. Balsom? Are you, uh, sitting down?"

"Yeah, I am. C'mon, spill it!"

The doctor gave an audible gulp. "You know, we've believed for years that Jim was in an irreversible vegetative state. But harvesting those stem cells seems to have jolted his system. In a good way."

Roxy closed her eyes. _Why, oh why did Shane have to get leukemia?_

"He's coming around! He's responsive, aware of his surroundings. And he's been muttering. He hasn't actually said 'Roxy,' but I think he's trying to ask for you -"

After another minute, Roxy cut in with, "Yeah, I'm sure he means me. I'll come right over."

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After she'd hung up, she buried her face in her hands and moaned. _There's no hope for me now. It's all gonna come out._

The man in the long-term care facility was not, of course, her husband. And his name wasn't Jim.

She felt a burst of resentment for the _other_ man. The one who'd gotten her into this mess.

But she knew she was anything but an innocent victim.

"Jim" had been one of the many unsavory characters her no-good husband, the late Dr. Walter Balsom, had brought into her life. Twenty-eight years ago, "Jim" had raped her.

At that point, she _had_ been innocent. But many years later, her path and "Jim's" had crossed again. She'd smelled money - and turned to blackmail. _How could I have used Rex that way? When he finds out, he'll **really** never forgive me._

She'd threatened to go public with the rape story. It couldn't have been proven legally, of course. DNA would prove Rex was "Jim's" son, but not that the sex hadn't been consensual.

Still, there would have been evidence to support her claim. Walter's sister Corinne had kept letters, from Walter and from Roxy herself, that mentioned the rape - showing she'd called it that long before she saw any chance of financial gain.

In later letters, written after Walter's death, she'd told Corinne she didn't want to raise Rex because he was the product of a rape. _Do those letters still exist? I'll die if Rex sees them..._

 _Damn it, when he finds out about the rape, he'll know, even without the letters. Why else would I have let Corinne raise him while I kept Natalie, who wasn't even mine?_

She'd never imagined the rape accusation could send "Jim" to prison. But it might have ruined the good thing he had going with another woman.

Unfortunately, her use of blackmail had made _her_ vulnerable to blackmail. After the passage of still more years, the _other_ man - the one she'd actually blackmailed - had threatened to tell her son everything if she didn't aid and abet him in his outrageous plan.

 _He meant well, I have to give him that._

Through no fault of Roxy's, "Jim" had been in much the same condition he'd been in recently. After an agonizingly brief return to consciousness, he'd slipped back. Hours later, he'd been declared dead.

Then he'd resumed breathing.

And his father had decided to spare the family more years of up-and-down anguish by faking his death. Only a billionaire could have pulled it off - but "Jim's" father _was_ a billionaire.

Even so, the deception was only possible because another fortuitous death permitted a heart transplant to proceed as scheduled.

 _But now,_ Roxy thought grimly, _the gig is up. I'll have to go over to that nursing home, and admit I'm not the woman he's been asking for._

 _The one he calls "Blondie."_

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The End

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 _ **Author's Afterword:**_ For any reader who hasn't been watching the show long enough to understand the significance of the name "Blondie," it was Ben Davidson's pet name for wife Viki.


End file.
